Indonesian biodiesel exports dropped to 21,600t in November, down by 65pc from 61,600t in October, and the lowest since May.
The winding down of an export levy waiver on all palm oil products from 31 October combined with higher palm prices and thin demand from Europe for warmer weather biodiesel pressured sales heading into winter.
The palm oil-gasoil (POGO) spread narrowed sharply after hitting all-time lows in October, and this discouraged discretionary blending.
But exports over January-November 2022 more than doubled to 397,900t from 161,800t in the same period of 2021 because of a slump in the POGO spread during summer. Biodiesel was one of the few palm-based products exempt from Indonesian export restrictions earlier in 2022 and so producers would sell at cheaper prices to generate cashflow.
China was by far the biggest buyer between January-November, taking 198,000t, followed by the Netherlands with 98,000t and Peru with 44,000t.
Used cooking oil (UCO) exports declined by 59pc to 12,100t in November from 29,100t in October. January-November exports for the feedstock also decreased by 37pc to 195,600t from 311,900t in the same period of 2021.
Singapore was the biggest buyer in November with 5,000t, followed by Malaysia with 4,100t, and the Netherlands with 1,500t.
But Indonesia's UCO exports are expected to decline in the near future as Jakarta has reduced the domestic market obligation ratio to 6:1 with effect from 1 January 2023.
| Indonesia biofuels, feedstocks exports | (t) | |||||||
| Nov '22 | Oct '22 | % ± m-o-m | Nov '21 | % ±y-o-y | Jan-Nov 22 | Jan-Nov 21 | % ± y-o-y | |
| Exports | ||||||||
| Biodiesel | 21,591 | 61,639 | -65% | 7,299 | 196% | 397,938 | 161,799 | 146% |
| UCO | 12,085 | 29,117 | -58.5% | 24,692 | -51.1% | 195,697 | 311,929 | -37.3% |
| Source: GTT | ||||||||
